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Women’s soccer falls to Texas Tech in NCAA opener, concludes season

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Lucy Rickerson fights for the ball in Princeton's Friday loss to Texas Tech

Women’s soccer (11–4–2, 5–1–1 Ivy) fell to the Texas Tech Red Raiders (14–5–2, 5–3–1 conf.) last Friday evening 0–3 in the first round of the NCAA Division I tournament. After clinching the Ivy League title in the season finale against Penn, the Tigers secured the only tournament slot from the League.

This was Texas Tech’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015, and the Tigers’ third. The Red Raiders finished in a three-way tie for third in the Big 12 and qualified for the tournament in the postseason tournament after falling to Baylor.

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The Tigers defeated Penn (13–2–1, 5–1–1 Ivy) in a season finale that saw the team clinch the Ivy League championship and earn a tournament berth, 1–0.

Texas Tech took an early lead in the game, with Jade King scoring off a cross into the box by Kirsten Davis around the seventh minute.

In the 58th minute, Davis took on Princeton’s defense herself and was able to get a shot off that hit bottom right corner, bringing Texas Tech’s lead to 2–0, after an assist from Ally Griffin.

Less than ten minutes later, Charlotte Teeter notched in the final goal of the game after an assist from Davis. The game concluded 3–0 for Texas Tech, who will face University of Virginia next. UVA defeated Princeton’s local opponent Monmouth 2–0 on Friday night.

The Tigers finished the game with 11 shots, six corner kicks, and 13 fouls. Texas had a whopping 24 shots, seven corners, and 15 fouls against Princeton.

Princeton keeper junior Natalie Grossi had nine saves, to Texas Tech’s three.

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“There’s only one team that finishes the NCAA tournament with a smile, everyone else finishes with a loss. But the last game was not an indication of our quality as a team. We faced a buzz saw of talent and at the end of the day [Texas Tech] was better,” head coach Sean Driscoll said. “I can’t say enough how thankful and appreciative I am of a group of student-athletes who went through a rollercoaster of a season and ended up finishing as well as they did. It shows tremendous consistency.”

Friday’s game concluded a high-pressure season that was ultimately a success. As returning Ivy League champions, the team had extra pressure on them to perform, said Coach Driscoll.

“So many times, we could have run off the tracks, but we stayed on the right track. We have the best athletes in the world, full of character and drive that is second to none. We have a great staff that is committed to the team.”

Now the team resets.

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“Every team is like a jigsaw puzzle — every player is a piece. Now we put the puzzle in the box until next year. We then throw it on the ground and put it back together again. We’ll look at players and see what they’re good at, develop our formation, tactics, and do it all over again,” Driscoll said. “We have a really good group of rising seniors and have a team of amazing people. We are already looking forward to next fall.”